For the economy as a whole, there were 216,000 new nonfarm, private payrolls, up from 173,000 last month. Small and medium-sized employers (e.g., those with less than 500 employees) accounted for all but 20,000 of those jobs.

Of course, the ADP figures are a precursor for the release of the official jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday. BLS reported 243,000 new nonfarm payrolls jobs and 50,000 manufacturing workers in January. Expectations are slightly lower payroll numbers for February, with the current consensus estimate of 150,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs.

Chad Moutray is chief economist, National Association of Manufacturers.

Chad Moutray is chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), where he serves as the NAM’s economic forecaster and spokesperson on economic issues. He frequently comments on current economic conditions for manufacturers through professional presentations and media interviews. He has appeared on Bloomberg, CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox Business and Fox News, among other news outlets.